Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic clinched her first WTA title of the year by hammering Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3 in the Pacific Life Open final.

The 20-year-old from Belgrade broke the Russian second seed, three times in the second set to wrap up victory in one hour 21 minutes.

After dominating a first set of quality shot-making, Ivanovic held the edge in an error-prone second before sealing the title by hitting a forehand service return winner.

It was the sixth WTA success of Ivanovic's career and the third loss by Kuznetsova in a final this season, following earlier disappointments in Sydney and Doha.

"This feels amazing," Ivanovic said after beating the Russian for a fifth time in six meetings. "I knew I needed to play aggressively today and just tried to move into the court as much as possible. I think I did that well today."

Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, conceded she had been totally outplayed in losing her eighth WTA final in her last nine.

"It's painful any time you lose, but I prefer to get to the final and lose," the Russian said. "I think she played incredibly well in the first set, every important point she hit the ball on the line.

"In the second set, I felt much more pressure because I had to go for it a bit more and she broke me three times. I think I played a bit too much to her forehand today."

On a sun-drenched afternoon in the California desert, the opening set went with serve until the ninth game when a crunching forehand by Ivanovic forced an error off Kuznetsova's backhand for the Serb to lead 30-40.

Ivanovic, runner-up at the Australian Open in January, coolly clinched the break point with a whipping topspin forehand winner to edge ahead 5-4. The elegant Serb then served out to take the opening set in 40 minutes, clinching the final point when the Russian hit a forehand long.

Ivanovic took early control in the second set, breaking in the third game when Kuznetsova pushed a backhand wide to lead 2-1. However, the Serb surprisingly failed to hold serve in the fourth, trailing 0-40 before being broken after a backhand flew wide.

Kuznetsova, increasingly vulnerable on her serve, was again broken in the seventh game when she netted a forehand before Ivanovic held to lead 5-3. Serving to stay in the match, the 22-year-old Russian double-faulted to trail 0-30 before Ivanovic then unleashed a crunching backhand winner for 0-40.

The Serb claimed the opening Masters Series event of the year with a service return winner.

Meanwhile, the world No.5 Maria Sharapova has pulled out of next week's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami because of a shoulder injury, organisers said.

The 20-year-old had hinted she might withdraw from the Masters Series event after losing 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to fellow Russian Kuznetsova in the Pacific Life Open on Friday.

Sharapova's defeat by the second seed ended a winning streak of 18 matches that included her third grand slam title at the Australian Open in January.

On Friday, Sharapova said she needed a break from the game because of fatigue after a hectic tournament schedule since the start of the year. "I'm playing a lot of tennis, been flying a lot," said the Russian, who had clocked just under 50,000 miles before arriving at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

"It's pretty much been non-stop with all the tournaments I've been playing and Fed Cup as well. It takes a toll on your body and your mind as well.

"At this point of the year I can't really be putting any pressure on myself by saying you've got to go out there and play next week'.

"If I'm not going to be ready, I'm not going to be ready. No one's forcing me to go out there and play."